Sophomore Reatreat
by Yukitoshuu Itsumademo
Summary: Stupid sophomore retreat! That's what Helga thinks when her school makes her and the rest of the sophomores go to a 'respect' retreat. Everything is lame, until the end when Helga reveals some hidden things at an emotional candle light thing. RR. True


Sophomore Retreat  
  
By Arnoldnhelga4eva  
  
Disclaimer: I'm sick and tired of writing these! I don't own hey arnold. Maybe I should just write a disclaimer on my profile.(Which I need to actually do! He he.)  
  
HELLLLOOOOO! I'm here again with yet another short story. I got this idea when we went to this stupid retreat that they make all the sophomores go to. At first it was extremely stupid and pointless, you know, trying in their lame ways to make you have fun, talking about respect, etc. But then, the ending was a powerful way to end it all. I signed up to help out with it in two years when the class of 2007 goes. What made it even more emotional was that we went on Sept. 11th this year. Anywayz, thanks for listening to me talk forever and ever and ever and ever.  
  
Enjoy!!! (I know this is how Helga would feel.)  
  
  
  
Just another ordinary day. Nothing special happening today, except this stupid thing for all the sophomores that will "supposedly" make us better people and treat others with more respect. Ha! Respect my ass! It's just one of those things where they hire this group of morons to come talk to us about how their lives were all screwed up, and how they would have fixed them. Then, they'll drag us to play a whole bunch of lame games, which we would have played back in fourth grade. This is going to be a long day.  
  
Lucky me. Phoebe is in my ROWK (Respect Others With Kare [A/N: This isn't what ours was called, and I didn't know what else to call it.]) group with me along with the one man that I pine over every day of my existence. Arnold. If he and Phoebe weren't going, I wouldn't be here. I would have faked sick and stayed home from school. Not like Miriam or Bob would have cared anyway. I decided maybe this was my break with Arnold!  
  
We boarded the bus in an orderly fashion. I didn't know anyone. Anyone but Phoebe and hair boy that is. As I stepped onto the bus, Phoebe's seat was occupied by one other person, who I didn't know and didn't care who it was. The only other seat open was none other than Arnold's seat. (A/N: Who saw that one coming?) I walked over to the seat and nervously said, 'H-h-hey there football head. All the other seats are taken so I have to sit here.' I finished with more confidence than I started with.  
  
'You can sit here Helga. There's enough room for both of us.' He said scooting over so she could fit in a space next to him. The bus ride there was quiet between the two of them.  
  
'I guess I'll see you in there Helga. Nice talking to you.'  
  
We didn't talk. Helga thought as she walked away from the bus in an attempt to find Phoebe. When she found her, Phoebe was talking to that same girl from the bus. Helga didn't even bother talking. It seemed that Phoebe had found a new friend and didn't need Helga right now. Helga would just call her later and straighten everything out. She didn't want to embarrass Phoebe here. As she walked away, Phoebe looked up from her conversation and saw Helga walking away a little depressed. Phoebe felt a twang of pain in her heart. How could she not even say hi to her best friend?  
  
Helga walked over to the doors and spotted Arnold almost immediately.  
  
'Hey Arnoldo! Why don't you go in football head!?' Helga shouted over all the excited teenagers.  
  
'We can't go in yet. The doors are locked.' Arnold shouted as he walked over to Helga. 'Do you know anyone here?'  
  
'No. Phoebes ditched me for some other person and I don't know anyone outside of our elementary school class.' She said.  
  
'I'm sure Phoebe didn't ditch you, and I don't know anyone either.' Arnold said. She just gave him a glare. All of a sudden, the doors opened to reveal a whole bunch of screaming seniors waving their arms for the sophomores to come in. All the sophomores were taken back by this. Helga just gave a huff and started walking foreword.  
  
'Outta my way! One side moron!' She yelled while pushing one of the seniors down. Arnold just shook his head and followed her. This was going to be a long day.  
  
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~` ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`  
  
'First! We are going to have.the circle sit!' The host of ROWK yelled. Everyone cheered, except Helga.  
  
This is stupid! We've done this thing a million times! All the preps just fall on purpose to be funny. This is so stupid!  
  
'C'mon Helga!' Arnold yelled snapping Helga out of her thoughts. They all got in one giant circle and Arnold stood to Helga's left, while some girl with red hair and dorky glasses stood on her right.  
  
'All right everyone! Turn to your right so the person on your right is in front of you!' The host announced.  
  
'Doi!' Helga snapped loud but not loud enough for everyone to hear. Arnold just shushed her.  
  
'Now, put your hands on the shoulder of the person in front of you!' Arnold placed his hands gently on Helga's shoulder and it sent shivers down her spine.  
  
Maybe this won't be so bad after all.  
  
'And now, on the count of three we'll all sit on the lap behind us. One, two, THREE!' Helga sat down slowly onto Arnold's lap. He was so warm and just sitting there made her mind into mush. She got so mushy that she fell which made Arnold fall and the girl in front of her and everyone else in that section in a domino effect. When Arnold realized what happened, he was on top of Helga. He got off of her and blushed deep red. Her cheeks mirrored his. They quickly stood up as the announcer told them of their next task.another stupid childish game.  
  
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~` ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`  
  
As the first minutes turned to hours, they finally stopped playing lame games.only now they were singing lame songs. There was this one guy who was pretty cool though. His name was Josh. He was the lead singer in some big band somewhere (A/N: Yes, this is true. There was a guy there but his name wasn't Josh. He was a big singer in some band, I just don't know which one.).  
  
After the torturous songs were over, They broke up into small groups by a number that was on their nametags. Helga was number 19, Arnold was 3.  
  
'I guess I'll see you after small group Helga.'  
  
'Yeah, see ya.' She replied half heartedly.  
  
'Okay, now what do you think when you hear the word, Respect? Anyone? Does anyone have an answer?' One of the ROWK leaders asked. 'How about you.'  
  
'Helga.' Helga replied. 'My name is Helga. Maybe I should wear this nametag home so my dad can forget my name to like he all ways does.'  
  
'Oh, I'm sorry. Your hair was covering it up.'  
  
'Right. Oh, and by the way, respect is bull. We don't need respect. Who cares? Someone is going to screw everything up anyways.' (A/N: No, I didn't get this emotional and bitchy.)  
  
'Ummm.okay. Right. So moving on to.'  
  
UGH! This is going to be a long day! Helga thought to herself.  
  
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~` ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`  
  
'And now, it's time for the more serious part of the day.' The announcer said. 'We are going to have something called campfire. It's not about telling ghost stories or staying up late at night, it is about forgiveness and getting things lifted off your chest.'  
  
Hmmmm, this is just what I need! Helga thought.  
  
'Whenever someone wants to start, just walk up here, light this candlestick with the big candle, then light one of the little candles.;  
  
All the students were hesitant about going up there at first. But eventually, one person got up there and started by saying sorry for pushing someone down today. Compared to Helga's problems, that was barely a grain of sand! After about ten people had gone, she pushed herself to go up there.  
  
C'mon Helga. You can do this. Do it for Phoebe and yourself, and.Arnold. Helga told herself.  
  
As she approached the center, she bent down and followed instructions. She wiped a few tears that leaked out of her eyes before picking up the microphone.  
  
'I light this candle for three things. The first is everyone I have treated awful in my life. I just want to say sorry in general. The second thing is for my best friend Phoebes. I hope we're still friends, since it looked like you made a new friend today.' Phoebe stared at Helga with hurt in her eyes. 'And lastly, I light this for Arnold.'  
  
Arnold's eyes widened in shock. She's lighting a candle for me!? Why?  
  
'I'm lighting this for Arnold as well because he has always made me look on the bright side of things. I've also treated him like shit for pretty much our whole lives, and I just wanted to say.I wanted to say.' Helga could barely finish. She choked on a few sobs and finally said, 'I love you.'  
  
Arnold just stared in shock as Helga dropped the microphone and ran out of the room. All the teenagers flinched at the horrible noise produced from the dropped microphone but Arnold and Phoebe. He didn't move. He saw Phoebe get up and run after her. He wanted to get up and comfort her too but his legs wouldn't let him, as if they were disconnected from him. He realized that his attempts to be closer to her were because he felt the same way for her. After hearing lots of whispers, he got up and ran out the same way Helga did. When he got out, there she was sitting on a bench crying with Phoebe hugging her.  
  
'Oh Phoebes! I can't believe I told him! I'm such an idiot!' Helga wailed. Phoebe shook her head. 'You're not an idiot Helga! You're one of the smartest people I know.' 'No, you're the smartest person!' She retorted. 'You know what I mean Helga. Now I'm sure everything will turn.'  
  
'Hey Helga.' Arnold said timidly. The blonde and asian girls looked up and Arnold was standing there looking down at them. Phoebe stood up and almost right away said, 'I think I need to go back in there and explain this to one of the deans.'  
  
'Phoebe don't go.' Helga cried. Phoebe just looked over her shoulder and gave her a small smile. Arnold came and sat in the same spot Phoebe had occupied earlier. His and Helga's eyes met and his impulses quickly became the best of him as he swept her up in a kiss. She didn't need him to tell her verbally, she saw it in his eyes and felt it in his kiss. His lips worked against hers as he bruised them. Helga's eyes were wide open in shock but quickly closed to what was happening. His arms were wrapped around her waist as he drew her so near that not even the tiniest atom could pass through. She met her hands behind his neck and drew their heads tightly together. His tongue caressed hers as his hands did the same to her back. Helga was the one to break off the kiss. They both sat there for a moment quietly gasping for air.  
  
'W-w-what was that for?' She asked. He looked down at his hands that were now in his lap. Should he say it? He looked into her crystal blue eyes. They seemed to dance from the tears that struck them. She was so beautiful, how could he not?  
  
'I love you.' He said it so much plainer than it was. He didn't even have enough time to smile at her, as she was the one to kiss him this time. Nothing could ever pull this love apart for it had so much, even the strongest man, animal, or machine could not pull them apart. They had something so strong from this experience that it would last the rest of their lives, and they respected that.  
  
  
  
  
  
Wow. Didn't know I could write that sappy and romantic. So what did you think? Too sappy at the end? Well I do tend to write sappy things with out realizing it. It's kinda strange how that works.  
  
No, this is not a true story, though I wish it was mine.^_^  
  
So anyways, read my other fics (and review) so that I have more motivation. Okies, I gots to go.  
  
C ya l8ter!  
  
Arnoldnhelga4eva 


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